


Oooooh, what's in here?

by StephaniD



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: F/F, Gen, Library, Silas - Freeform, doors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5534489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephaniD/pseuds/StephaniD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old oak door mysteriously appears on Silas University Campus, so obviously LaFontaine and Laura Hollis have to investigate. </p><p>*Merry Christmas, Arthur!*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Carmilla's Unending Argument About Knocking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flashforeward](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashforeward/gifts).



"Did you get the email?" LaFontaine asked excitedly as they entered the room.    
"Knocking." Carmilla responded, aggravated. Laura shrugged at the redhead.    
"There's apparently a wooden door that just appeared on the south quad. Want to come check it out?"    
"Why would we want to do that?" Carmilla shot back.    
"Students aren't supposed to go near it, apparently there's knocking coming from it." The ginger looked about to burst with excitement.    
"So you do know what knocking is." Carmilla drawled.    
"LaF, I'm not sure that's a good idea. You know better than anyone how weird things can get on campus." Laura frowned, concerned.    
"C'mon, you're not curious?" They asked. "A door shows up on a patch of grass and something's knocking to be let into our world, and you don't want to find out more?"    
"At least it's more polite than what we usually deal with." Laura rationalized, turning to face Carmilla.    
"Oh my god. No wonder Xena and Betty Crocker are always wanting to protect you two."    
"LaF and I can protect ourselves." Laura defended.    
"Like that time you lit the papers attacking you on fire?" Carmilla reminded the duo.    
"I was thinking of the second time." Her girlfriend hedged.    
"You mean the time I came along and we agreed never to speak of."    
  
"Look," LaFontaine interrupted, "I'll be safer with others there, but I'm checking it out, with or without you. I want to see if I can take some pictures, samples, determine what kind of freaky we're dealing with early this time." They crossed their arms and looked at the brunettes.    
"Carm?" Laura asked, tone hopeful.    
"Fine." She groaned. "But no longer than 60 seconds, no farther than 3 metres through the door."    
"Awesome, I'll go finish preparing my supplies." They grinned before leaving, not bothering to shut the door behind themself.    
  
"Better text the other gingers." Carmilla noted to Laura. "I might have trouble babysitting both of you."    
"Babysitting? Really?" Laura frowned.    
"Creampuff, you're 19 years old. LaF's what, 21, 22 max? I'm 334. Plus,  you can't leave the very dangerous supernatural world well enough alone. I think this counts as babysitting." She grinned as Laura's face pinched tight, features focused adorably around her nose. "Just text the other gingers, don't make me have to steal your stupid flip-phone."    
"As if you could even find them in my contacts." Laura scoffed with a smile.    
"I could." Carmilla defended with a confident smile.     
"What's Danny's last name?" Laura teased.    
"Lawrence." Carmilla replied easily. Laura's smile turned into a pout.    
"How do you know that?"    
"You introduced her to your camera while I was in the room. Also, we were fighting for your affection. Now text her before I change my mind about being able to put up with her."    
  
The 5 of them met up at the South Quad the next day. LaF had gloves, glass jars, and plastic bags in a backpack, Danny had a baseball bat, Perry had grabbed a backpack with what she assured them was 'the standard preparedness supplies'; the brunettes were empty-handed. Carmilla was grumpy because they'd woken her in the middle of the day.    
"Hold on." LaF held up a finger, pulling a pocketknife out and slicing a large splinter out of the door, bagging it and putting it in their backpack.    
"We're here for you, short stuff, take all the time on this side of the door you want." Carmilla responded with a yawn.    
"Short stuff? Really? I'm taller than you." They grinned.    
"Whatever." Carmilla sighed. "Just do your science."    
"I don't hear any knocking." Laura observed, lifting a fist and knocking on the door once before Carmilla's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.    
  
The group stared wordlessly as the handle on the door turned and the door opened with a creak. LaFontaine snapped a picture with their phone. Danny and Carmilla moved to the head of the group, Danny pushing the door fully open with her bat.    
"I don't see anyone there." Perry stated as they all peered into a desert. LaFontaine pulled Carmilla in a few metres before crouching down to put some dirt into a glass jar. "Looks safe." They called nonchalantly. Laura, Danny and Perry followed after. LaFontaine took a picture of the door from this side, looking back to Silas. This side didn't have any doorframe, or a visible door. Just a rectangle back to their university.    
"Anyone have any idea where we are?" Danny asked, looking around, bat resting on her shoulder.    
"No clue." LaFontaine grinned, taking a panoramic picture of the horizon in every direction.    
"That is not something to be happy about!" Perry chastised. "Are you almost done? We should really get back to Silas."    
  
"The door!" Laura burst, running toward the quickly narrowing rectangle. Carmilla beat her there, a second after the door closed. She seemed to press against nothing for a fraction of a second before falling to the ground.    
"Shit." She muttered, getting up and trying to brush the dry dirt off her black clothes. "All right, LaFon-brain, you got us here, you need to figure out how to get us home."    
"What?" They gaped. "But I- You can't expect-" For once they had no words, stunned into silence for a few seconds.    
"Sweetie?" Perry asked nervously as her best friend's neck and ears reddened.    
"I'm going to need a laboratory to stand a chance of getting us home." They stated, glaring at Carmilla.


	2. Welcome to NightVale!

"There's a red blinking light on that mountain. There must be people somewhere nearby." Laura pointed. So the quintet began to walk toward the mountain, passing around sunscreen from Perry's backpack. She had also packed an umbrella, which she loaned to Carmilla.    
After a few hours they stopped to rest, sitting on the ground. Carmilla set the umbrella down, curling up beneath it.    
"Are you going to be alright?" Laura asked.    
"I'm fine." Carmilla smiled as genuinely as she could. "I'll just take small relief where I can. I ought to be asleep right now, remember?"    
  
They had been walking for another hour when Danny pointed away from the mountain.    
"What is that? Clouds?" Laura asked, shielding her eyes from the sun and squinting.    
"Smoke. Signals, judging by the breaks. People."    
"Awesome." Laura grinned tiredly and started walking towards the smoke.    
"Can you read them?" Carmilla asked, near-monotone. Danny shook her head.    
"If it was Morse Code I could, but I don't know what this says."    
"Wandering into the unknown we go. Again." She gestured Laura to continue, the girl had looked back at them and waited when the conversation had continued.    
  
As they neared the origin of the smoke signals, they saw humanoid figures manipulating the smoke. They soon came to find that the figures were smaller, and strangely colored. They wore similar purple uniforms, which matched some of the people's hue well, others not. The figures noticed the group from Silas and gathered to talk, then spread out to intercept them.    
"Halt!" One of them called out eventually. Sounded like a girl. They stopped. "Identify yourselves!"    
"My name is Danny Lawrence, these are my friends." The redhead called after a second of silence.    
"Identify all of you!" The girl commanded.    
"May we come closer?"    
"Yes." She responded after a few seconds' thought. They continued toward the girl in charge, a blue skinned teen with navy-colored braids. Closer, they could see the girls were all about 10-14, all aiming slingshots at them. "That's close enough." She stopped them again. "Identify yourselves, all of you."    
"These are Lola Perry, Susan LaFontaine, Laura Hollis, and Carmilla Karnstein." Danny pointed to each in turn, LaFontaine taking pictures of the young girls. "Please do us the same courtesy."    
"My name is Tamika Flynn. Where do you come from?"    
"What's your name?" Laura asked the nearest girl, who was a salmon color with neon blue tentacles for  hair.    
"Not important." She replied, training her slingshot on Laura's head.    
"Did Tamika Flynn tell you you're not important?" Laura asked.    
"Enough!" Tamika yelled. All the girls were aiming at Laura now; Carmilla stepped in front of her. "Tell us where you're from!"    
"S-Silas University. In Styria, Austria." Laura responded.    
"Do you have any relation to Desert Bluffs or Strexcorp?" Tamika continued.    
"Um, no, I don't think so?"    
"Safe, girls." All the oddly-colored girls tucked their slingshots away and the tension eased.    
  
"Where's Silas university in Styria Austria?" Tamika asked, walking up to them calmly.    
"On the other side of a door that disappeared when we came through. What are you all doing out here? This is no place for children to be playing." Perry frowned.    
"Lady, in case you couldn't tell from the uniforms, we're the Girl Scouts." Tamika unzipped her sleeveless hoodie to reveal dozens of patches sewn to the interior. "If you came through a door, you should talk to Carlos the Scientist. I'll show you his laboratory." Tamika started walking away, LaFontaine following excitedly.     
"You got a hospital around here?" Carmilla asked.    
"Yeah, the Night Vale Medical Board runs it." A bald forest-green girl with 4 eyes responded. "You and your friends should go with Tamika. She can show you the hospital."    
  
As they walked through the town, they saw people of all hues, some with missing or extra appendages; some people were in black hooded cloaks so dark you couldn't see any distinguishing features. LaFontaine continued to take pictures. They saw flyers advertising mayoral candidates Hiram McDaniels 'literal 5-headed dragon', and "The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home". They saw 2 multicolored glowing clouds, one large, one small. They saw many cars marked "Sheriff's Secret Police" driving around. When they asked, Tamika told them that that's how people look in Night Vale, that the hooded figures were not to be looked at or thought about, that previous community radio intern Dana Cardinal had been chosen as Mayor after going through a door in the dog park -that no-one was allowed in- and eventually returning, that the Glow Cloud had promised to not take over people's minds and rain dead animals, and that the Sheriff's Secret Police kept them safe and took away people who broke the law or voted incorrectly. 


	3. In Which Carmilla is Grumpy

"This is Carlos' lab. He's not from Night Vale either."    
"Before you go." Carmilla stopped the girl. "Where's the hospital?" Tamika pulled out a town map and showed Carmilla where they were and where the hospital was. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen or something to circle it?" The vampire asked.    
"No, of course not, pens and other writing implements are illegal." Tamika stated loudly, pulling a pen from her sock and circling the hospital. "I hope Carlos is able to help you." She said at regular volume before heading back toward the desert.    
  
"- weirder than Silas." LaF was saying as Carmilla entered the building.    
"At least the worst thing we've seen is the color changing clouds." Laura shrugged. "And Tamika acted like they were safe enough."    
"Yes, but she's lived here her whole life, so she may not be the best judge." Perry added. Danny rang a bell on an empty reception desk, which shrieked as if in pain, the students all jumped back.    
  
"Just a second!" A man called. He emerged from a door, brown hair over dark tan skin. He had no extra eyes or limbs, no tentacles, no rainbow of skin and hair colors, he seemed perfectly human. The oddest thing about him was his flowing sundress under his lab coat, but the students were more than willing to overlook that.    
"Oh my goodness, what a surprise! I hardly ever get visitors! What brings you here?"    
"We were hoping you could help us with that." LaFontaine responded quickly. "There was a door in our campus that just appeared and we came through to here and then it disappeared."    
"Campus? Are you students from Night Vale Community College?"    
"No, we're from Silas University in Styria, Austria."    
"Oh. I was half-hoping some students had escaped the endless hallway." He sighed with a frown, but returned to being excited a second later. "So, Austria, how exciting! Come in, come in, tell me, did you come from anywhere near Mitch-igin? Or Oh-hee-oh?"    
"Sorry, what?" LaFontaine asked as they followed him into his lab. He wrote on the board.    
"Michigan and Ohio." Carmilla said. "I think they're states in America. Are we in America?"    
"Somewhere!" He grinned. "My studies on where Night Vale is and how I got here never seem to go anywhere." The students glanced at each other nervously.    
"Perhaps with us here, we can help you." LaFontaine offered. "I'm a scientist myself."    
"Oh, wonderful! Would any of you object to giving hair, skin, and blood samples?"    
"At least this one asks. I would mind." Carmilla crossed her arms. "Speaking of, I'm headed to the hospital."    
"Oh my gosh, are you okay? Do you want me to drive you?"    
"That would actually be great." She responded.    
"Okay, um, I think we'll all fit, but there may be some sitting on laps."    
  
"Alright Big Red, you get the trunk." Carmilla deadpanned as they approached Carlos's car.    
"You're the nigh-invulnerable one who's throwing a temper tantrum because you're tired and hungry. You get in the trunk." Danny responded, shifting her grip on her baseball bat.    
"There's 6 of us, so 2 people will have to sit on laps." Laura interjected, pausing the bickering. Carmilla picked her up, swinging her off her feet, causing the human to squeak in surprise and cling to Carmilla. The vampire grinned as Danny scowled and turned to LaFontaine.    
"We could?"    
"Thanks, but we'll be fine." They took Perry's hand. "You can take the front."    
  
"So why do you need to go to the hospital?" Carlos asked as he drove.    
"None of your business." Carmilla responded.    
"Soy milk?" Laura breathed in her ear. Carmilla nodded slightly.    
"She's just being cranky because she's tired and hungry. And walked in the desert wearing all black." Danny told Carlos. Carmilla poked her with Perry's umbrella.    
"I've taken you down before, I can do it again, Fa-." Danny managed to stop herself before uttering the insulting nickname. Carmilla made a face at the rearview mirror.    
"Both of you, quit it!" Laura demanded. "Stop antagonizing each other, jeez!"    
  
"So, Carlos, was it?" LaFontaine broke the silence a few minutes later. "I have a sample I think you'd be interested in. A bit of the door from our side?"    
"Oh my goodness, yes! You said you're a scientist, too? Oh, the tests we could run, knowledge we could share, I'm so excited! There's a hotel by the Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area that should be able to take you in, and we can get to work tomorrow." His voice got even higher pitched when he was excited.    
  
Carlos parked the car and walked them up to the Hospital, electing to stay outside and make a call. The students headed in and Carmilla began to stumble, a confused look on her face. Laura immediately ducked under the vampire's arm and helped her to the desk.    
"I need a, um..." Carmilla squinted and blinked slowly at the giant snake. "Blood transfusion." She finished a few seconds later. "I'm really. Really dehydrated."    
"Well at least you know what you need." The snake replied, pushing a clipboard forward with its tail. "Most people come in here simply complaining. Have a seat."    
"Thanks." Carmilla smiled goofily. The students sat in the waiting room chairs, Carmilla filling out the papers faster than Laura could read them.    
"Done this ruse a lot?" Danny asked quietly, slightly accusingly. Carmilla didn't respond. When she finished she murmured the plan to the others so her actions wouldn't surprise them and give them away. Laura returned the clipboard to the snake with a smile. Carlos entered, sitting near them with a contented look on his face.    
  
"Carmilla Karnstein." A 2-headed person spoke in unison. The group rose. "Follow me." They entered a standard hospital room, bags of blood in a temperature-controlled box on the counter.    
"We can take it from here, thanks." LaFontaine smiled at the nurse. "I'm a scientist, and she gets like this quite a bit, and I'm sure you have more pressing concerns, so, don't you worry about us."    
"Are you sure?" One head asked.    
"The rules state..." The other head mumbled.    
"I'm also a scientist, so, as you can see, we've got this under control. Why don't you go check on your other patients?" Carlos added.    
"Alright."    
"If you're sure."    
"Call if you need." The heads talked over each other as they left. Carmilla thanked Carlos perfunctorily, grabbing the box with the blood before shutting the curtain around the bed.    
  
"So, thanks so much for your help, but she's good for now, perhaps you and I could go talk in the waiting room about doors and such?" Perry tried to lead Carlos out of the room.    
"Your friend will be okay? I admit I don't know much about vampiric medical practices, but I just want to be sure." He worried. The students all froze and stared at him, Carmilla peering around the curtain suspiciously.    
"What makes you think she's a vampire?" Laura forced a laugh. "What makes you think vampires are even real?"    
"Living in Night Vale, you learn to accept all sorts of things, and based on her pallor, your conversations, and the fact that all that was in the room was blood, I drew an educated guess." Carlos explained with a smile. "There's no need to worry, I think Night Vale may even have a vampiric support group. If I remember right, they meet Wednesday evenings in the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex."    
Carmilla threw the curtain open, blatantly sucking on a blood bag.    
"Hell no." She stated, a drop of blood escaping her mouth. "I'm over 300 years old, I don't need to sit through whiny toddlers with plastic fangs." Danny rolled her eyes.    
"You've got some-" Perry motioned to her own face, holding out a gauze pad for Carmilla.    
"Stuff it. I'm not in a good mood and I probably won't be able to sleep until near dawn." She scowled. "Let's just find a hotel so I can get some peace and quiet."    
"Sure, sure." Carlos replied amiably. "I hope you don't mind I've asked my boyfriend to lend a hand driving, that way everyone can have their own seat and seatbelt."    
"Thank you." Perry smiled.    
  
The group left the hospital, Carmilla had drunk one bag and put the others  in a small cooler and into LaFontaine's backpack, save one that Laura tucked in an interior hoodie pocket, trying to keep it warm.    
"Carlos."    
"Cecil." Carlos embraced a man waiting outside the hospital, a lavender colored man with pastel blue hair. He had an extra eye on his forehead and tentacles replacing his fingers, and was wearing gaucho pants and a rain poncho. "This is my boyfriend Cecil." Carlos introduced. "He's the host of the community radio station." The students waited for Carlos to introduce them, realizing a second later that he didn't know their names. They introduced themselves as they walked to the cars, quickly determining that the gingers would ride with Carlos and the brunettes with Cecil. Laura managed to wipe the blood off Carmilla's face, though it earned her a scowl.    
  
"So, you came here through a door? We had some doors a while back, but they didn't go to a university. They went to a house that didn't really exist, and a desert otherworld, those sorts of things. It's good that Tamika took you to Carlos, if anyone can figure the doors out it’s him." Cecil talked animatedly.    
"I was thinking that perhaps tomorrow, while LaFontaine helps Carlos with the science side of things, I could check out the library." Laura volunteered, having taken the front seat, Carmilla stretched out in the back.     
"I don't think you want to do that." Cecil responded tightly, immediately.    
"Why not?" Laura frowned.    
"The Librarians." He responded with a shudder. "Tamika can give you a better warning than I, she's read many books, completed her summer reading list even, and looked a Librarian right where most creatures have eyes." The girls glanced at each other. They weren't too worried, they'd braved Silas' library multiple times, but they had been hoping for something easier, safer than Silas.    
"Have the librarians ever faced a vampire?" Carmilla asked confrontationally. That had been her attitude for most of the day, Laura realized belatedly.    
"I'm not sure." Cecil responded thoughtfully. "What powers do you have?"    
"Super speed, super strength, enhanced senses, short range teleportation, shape shifting, pyrokinesis." Carmilla rattled off.    
"You may in fact be able to take a librarian." Cecil grinned.    
"Hold on, you're telling me the little blue Girl Scout who aimed a slingshot at us took down something the vampire  might be able to?" Laura asked incredulously.    
"Tamika is very smart, very good with her slingshot, and very passionate about books." Cecil responded proudly.    
"And she wasn't that much shorter than you." Carmilla chuckled.    
"Shut up, you're only a couple centimetres taller than me." Laura scowled over her shoulder.    
"Adorable." Carmilla smiled.    
  
"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been together?" Cecil asked.    
"Well, she became my roommate early in September, we admitted our feelings for each other through the semester, but I think we officially got together just before Christmas." Laura responded.    
"And all it took was me dying again." Carmilla added.    
"You are cranky and I'm ignoring you." Laura stated.    
"Aaaand here we are, the Beachfront Boardwalk Hotel." Cecil pulled up with a smile. "And there's your friends, right behind us."    
  
The group went inside, Cecil explained the situation to the being behind the desk, and 3 rooms were booked for free for an indeterminate amount of time, one with a mini fridge for Carmilla. The students thanked Carlos and Cecil and promised to be up the next morning to start trying to get home (aside from Carmilla, who would likely be just falling asleep). They went to their rooms and got as comfortable as possible, glad to be off their feet. Carmilla drank another bag of blood, still needing energy after being awake and walking in the desert for half the day, managing to get a sunburn despite the sunscreen and umbrella. She sat at the window, staring up at the stars and sipping her blood, unable to recognize a single constellation as Laura drifted to sleep watching her. LaFontaine was talking a mile a minute, but dropped off to sleep quite soon after Perry bid them be quiet. Danny made sure her baseball bat was within reach before falling asleep, still unnerved by all the things they'd seen and heard. 


	4. Starting Investigations

"Laura, it's dawn." Carmilla lay down next to her girlfriend.   
"Hmmm?"   
"It's dawn." She repeated with a soft smile.   
"Okay. I have an alarm set." She assured, cuddling close. The girls slept peacefully for a few hours, wrapped up in each other. 

The Dimwit Squad met at the complimentary breakfast, picking the inedible bits out of their food. Carlos and Cecil picked them up, Carlos taking LaFontaine and Perry back to his lab while Cecil took Laura and Danny to meet Tamika Flynn near the library. He explained that he didn't have much time, he had sent the radio station to a weather break and had to get back before it ended. The young women glanced at each other in confusion, but simply filed the information away for later. 

Cecil dropped them off, waving out the window and calling for them to stay safe. Tamika snorted derisively.   
"There is no 'safe' in a library." She told the pair, as if leading soldiers into battle. "If the Librarians don't get you, you still have to be careful of the flesh-eating reading bacterium. What sort of books are you looking for?"   
"Anything that can help us get home and or figure out the doors?" Laura responded.   
"We're not really sure, but I expect we'll know it when we find it." Danny added.   
"Right. Do you have any way of defending yourself if the librarian repellent doesn't work?" Tamika asked Laura.   
"Years of Krav Maga training. It's a self-defense fighting class."   
"So you're not completely defenseless, but it's not a good idea to let a Librarian get that close. Even baseball-bat close is dangerous." Tamika glanced at Danny. "We're going to be looking in the sciences and the local history. Dewey numbers 500 and 900 to start, we'll get more detailed when we get inside and see what we have to work with, how contained the librarians are. If a librarian approaches, your best bet is to pretend you don't exist and hope the librarian shares in your delusion." The young girl's voice was solemn, mature, battle-hardened. Her tone sent a shiver down Laura's spine despite the nonsense advice. "Alright, let's get you vaccinated and head in."   
"Vaccinated?" Danny questioned, voice hard as she stepped in front of Laura. Tamika pulled a small glass vial from her backpack and tossed it to the redhead.   
"Against the flesh-eating reading bacterium." She explained. 

"Interesting!" Carlos murmured, looking in the microscope. "LaFontaine, what do you think?" He stepped to the side, allowing the ginger a view.   
"Woah! Did you use a dye or anything on this sample?"   
"Nope, just zoomed in, it's naturally like that."   
"But arrows? That's not natural." LaFontaine glanced up at the man, confused. "I wonder..." They carefully picked up the microscope, turning on the spot. "Incredible! Carlos, you've got to see this!" They set the device back on the counter where Carlos copied them.   
"Oh my gosh this is so exciting!" He burst, turning different directions. "We should see what they're pointing to."   
"Lead on, I'll stop you if you're about to bump into something." They grinned.


	5. Continuing Investiagations

The scientists walked down the street, Carlos carrying a travel microscope, LaFontaine with a loose hold on the back of his lab coat. They had to pull him away from walls, stop him a few times while crossing intersections, and alerted him when the road stopped and they reached the desert.    
"Can you see anything the arrows might be pointing to?" LaFontaine asked, squinting and shielding their eyes as they tried to see farther.    
"No." Carlos frowned. "As far as I know, there's nothing that way."    
"Want to keep following the arrows?"    
"Not like this."    
  
"At least these books aren't sentient." Laura muttered, scanning another Table of Contents. Tamika was atop a nearby bookshelf, keeping an eye on the librarians and using her slingshot if they got too close to the university students. Laura could hear them sometimes, when the library was eerily still and they got close enough to make Tamika deter them. She was slightly thankful that the books were assuredly inanimate. Danny sometimes muttered in different languages, Latin, German, and some of the books at Silas had a tendency to react to what she'd said.    
"I think I've got something." Danny stated, flipping pages. "The doors appeared on November 11th of the year 1111. We thought it heralded our reptilian gods, but the doors eventually left once we began opening them. They remained open for only a few Rels before resealing." She read aloud. "And then there's a list of names of people lost to the doors."    
"Any clue in there as to how long a Rel is?"    
"Based on the door we came through, I would say somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds."    
"Let me see." Tamika stated, standing above them, her slingshot sticking out of her pocket. Danny gently tossed the book up, Tamika plucking it out of the air at the apex of its flight. "Looks useful, I'll check it out when we're done." She commented without even opening it. The young women below shared another look as Tamika resumed her patrol, before returning to their own task.    
  
"2 degrees right." LaFontaine stated. "Good. This is a pretty sweet setup you've got here."    
"Thanks, I try to stay in shape." Carlos grinned back at them. "Just keep an eye on the microscope."    
"I am. I can watch the arrows and marvel at your tandem bicycle at the same time."    
"I'm sorry I don't have a three-person bike."    
"It's fine, Perry likes cleaning. It helps her calm down."    
"That's good."    
"We're a little off-course again, 3 degrees left. Good. Still don't see anything?"    
"We seem to be headed for a speck on the horizon line."    
"Let me know when it resolves itself into something."    
  
"We're perfectly safe." Tamika stated calmly. "Just protect our rear and we'll be fine. Hello, Randall." She greeted the librarian behind the checkout desk, staying to the side of the book slot as Randall's claws tried to grab at her. "Just these today." She quickly slid the books through the slot. Laura tried to keep an eye on both Tamika and Danny, who had Tamika's slingshot at the ready. Apparently mollified in the presence of books, Randall stamped the cards with the due date. Tamika carefully used a long-handled tool to slide out books when they had been stamped. Randall tried to hold onto the last book, but Tamika sprayed Librarian Repellent through the slot, into Randall's thoracic villi. He reared back, screeching and bellowing sparks toward the ceiling. Tamika grabbed the last book and the trio ran for the exit. Danny reached it first, holding the door open for the other two and slamming it shut before any librarians could escape.    
"Librarians love books, but hate people." Tamika stated as they all breathed hard. Danny started to cough and Tamika pulled a syringe out of her backpack.    
"I'm fine, I'm sure it's just dust." Danny waved the teen off, though her voice was scratchy. "You already gave us vaccinations before we went in."    
"I don't want to take any chances." The girl replied solemnly, taking Danny's elbow and reaching up to inject her upper arm. "We're lucky to have flesh-eating reading bacterium inoculations."    
"Let's go back to the hotel and look at these closer." Laura suggested. "Carmilla can help."    
  
"It's a door." Carlos stated in wonder. "The door sample leads to another door."    
"Can't wait to check it out." LaFontaine huffed. It felt like they had been biking for over an hour in the desert sun.    
  
"Don't worry about her, she sleeps like the dead." Laura nodded towards Carmilla, sprawled on the bed. Tamika cracked a smile at that and pulled pencils and paper from her backpack along with the library books.    
"Didn't you say writing instruments are illegal?" Danny asked.    
"Yes, but as long as you don't draw too much attention the Sheriff's Secret Police won't bother with you." She responded with a shrug.    
"Everyone grab a book and write down anything useful, we'll compare notes when there aren't any more books?" Laura suggested. The others agreed and set to work. 


	6. Sharing Findings

"Ready?" Carlos asked, hand on the doorknob. The duo had already taken a sample of the door and were prepared to interact with it. LaFontaine held their camera up. He opened the door and started a stopwatch as LaFontaine snapped a picture before even assessing what was beyond the doorframe. "Is that where you came from?" Carlos asked.   
"No." They sighed, taking a few more pictures to be safe. "Here, hold my hand, I want to check something." They leaned through the doorway, taking a picture of the frameless border. "Any other experiments you want to do?" They asked as they cut a length of rope from within their backpack and tossed one end through the doorway, laying the other end on the desert ground.   
"You're covering most of them." He responded. "I just wish we had a way to figure out where 'there' is. Like an intern."   
"Or a minion." LaFontaine added. "I wonder..." They grabbed their phone and stuck their hand through the doorframe, phone open to the map application. It changed from an error screen to a different error screen. They sighed and took a screenshot before pulling their hands back. A few seconds later the door closed quickly and Carlos wrote down the time on the stopwatch. The pair inspected the rope LaFontaine had put in the doorway, it had been chopped off at the doorframe and the end melted.   
"Glad that's not my arms." LaFontaine commented. Carlos went to check the microscope and excitedly called them over. The arrows were pointing in a new direction.   
"Let's go check it out!"   
"Do you think we can do that tomorrow? I'm hungry, it's going to be getting dark soon, and Perry must be getting worried." LaFontaine frowned.   
"Of course, I'm sorry, let's get back to the laboratory." 

Carmilla groaned as she woke, stretching on the bed.   
"Morning." She looked down at them. "Good to see you're unscathed."   
"Grab a book and help us take notes?" Laura smiled.   
"Once I have some breakfast. Where's tweedledee and tweedle-neurotic?"   
"With Carlos, the scientist." Tamika responded, watching as Carmilla grabbed a blood bag and began drinking. She dropped to a seated position and started reading one of the books. “Please be careful with blood around the library books.” Tamika sighed.   
“Believe it or not Half-pint, this actually helped before.” Carmilla retorted, still reading. Danny shook her head at Tamika, giving her a ‘don't even try’ look. 

“Well?” LaFontaine asked as Carlos focused the second microscope.   
“Vey ah piomim vuh fame buhwekfum.” He mumbled around his brownie.   
“Chew, swallow, then talk.” Perry chastised. “What does them pointing in the same direction mean?”   
“It means the doors are definitely linked to each other in some way.” LaFontaine explained. “Even if they don't lead to the same destination, they're somehow communicating on a cellular level.” 

Cecil and Carlos offered to take the group out to the Moonlight All Night Diner for dinner/breakfast and they gladly agreed.   
“So, what did you find out?” LaFontaine asked.   
“First of all, I kind of prefer Silas’ library. At least the librarians there are mostly human and there's no flesh-eating reading bacteria.”   
“Really? Do you happen to know if-?” They stopped as Perry elbowed them. “I mean, uh, about the doors specifically. We can discuss the library later.”   
“Well, according to our research there's a set number of doors, they appear here every so often, and appear to be migratory. When a door closes in one spot it appears somewhere else.” Tamika summarized.   
“And they travel in a pack.” Carmilla added.   
“A pack of migratory doors.” Cecil murmured in awe.   
“What did you find?” Danny asked.   
“A way to track them.” LaFontaine smiled. “It's very limited, but a sample from any door points to the next closest door when viewed under a microscope.”   
“So we can go home as soon as we get to the next door?” Laura asked.   
“It's not that simple. The doors don't always go to the right place. And while we could mount 2 search parties with 2 samples of door, they have a very short timer, if one group found a door home the other group would be unable to reach them in time.”   
“So we wander the desert with a microscope until we find a door that leads home?” Carmilla clarified in a bored drawl.   
“Pretty much.” LaFontaine sighed.   
“I could get a minivan.” Tamika volunteered.   
“You're too young to drive.” Perry objected worriedly.   
“It's okay, I’ve read The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.” The young girl assured them. “And there's a Used Car Lot right near Old Woman Josie’s house, I'm sure I can convince a Not-Angel to help if I need to.” The Silas students glanced at each other nervously.   
“Just make sure you're safe, Tamika.” Cecil urged.   
“I’ll have to be awake in the daytime, won't I?” Carmilla grumbled.   
“Unfortunately.” Tamika replied. “I'm not comfortable driving at night, the Hooded Figures are too hard to see.” Everyone was quiet for a minute.   
“So, about this bacteria…” LaFontaine started.


	7. Home!

The next morning the Silas students and Carlos were all waiting outside the hotel when Tamika pulled up.  
“How about you let someone with a license drive, okay?” Perry asked. Tamika glowered at her condescending tone, but got out of the drivers seat. Carlos took shotgun, microscope in hand.

“What's the speed limit for the desert?” Perry asked.  
“There isn't one, Perr.” LaFontaine stated.  
“As long as you don't go faster than the lights overhead, you're good.” Carlos informed her. 

They arrived at a door, Carlos started his stopwatch as LaFontaine opened it. It didn't lead to Silas so they piled back in the minivan and continued on. Over the next few doors they discovered that each doorway remained open for 71 seconds, and took approximately 2 seconds to close.

“That's Silas!” LaFontaine cheered. They quickly thanked Carlos and he hugged them as Laura and Danny shook Tamika’s hand.  
“Susan LaFontaine.” Tamika pulled the ginger aside, pressing two tiny bottles into their hands. “Be safe.” LaFontaine quickly read them before excitedly hugging the oddly-colored girl and thanking her.  
“Alright, we need to go.” Danny stated authoritatively, looking at her phone. Carmilla and Perry each grabbed their respective partner and the group headed through the doorway. They all continued to wave and say goodbye (save Carmilla) until the door closed. 

“Hey, it’s only a few hours after we left.” LaFontaine noted happily as their phone resumed full usability. “I need to go, uh, do something, so, I’ll see you later!” They jogged off, a bewildered and frustrated Perry chasing after.  
“Be safe!” Laura called, smiling.  
“At the risk of sounding overprotective, I'm glad you called me.” Danny hugged Laura.  
“I'm glad you came along, and it was Carmilla's idea to call you.” Laura happily gestured to her girlfriend, who nodded.  
“Xena.”  
“Fangface. Well, I’d better get back to the Summers, they'll be surprised to see me so soon but I don't doubt they need help with something.”  
“Bye, Danny.”

“So,” Carmilla started, wrapping an arm around Laura's waist possessively, “I get the feeling you know why the Bobsey twins ran off so fast. And it wasn't to get away from me.” The pair started ambling along the campus sidewalk.   
“You and LaF are getting to be friends, right? So it's not that they don't want to hang out with you.”   
“What did they take?” The vampire yawned.   
“It was a gift. From Tamika Flynn. I don't know exactly what.”   
“Hazard a guess, Lauronica Mars?”   
“A sample of, and at least one vaccine for, this flesh-eating bacteria that I guess lives in books.”   
“Great.” Carmilla sighed. 


End file.
